


lover lose me: the unbecoming of kayleigh day

by ExyCherry, Fornavn



Series: into the kayleighverse [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2020, Canon Compliant, F/M, Heavy Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Pre-Canon, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExyCherry/pseuds/ExyCherry, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fornavn/pseuds/Fornavn
Summary: Kayleigh Day, an eager exchange student from Ireland, falls deeply and irrevocably in love with David Wymack. This is their story.
Relationships: Kayleigh Day/David Wymack
Series: into the kayleighverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881505
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21
Collections: AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for the AFTG reverse big bang 2020. many thanks to the lovely @makebelieveanything for beta'ing for me! it was a monster to write and i couldn't have done it without her. also many thanks to the wonderfully talented @fornavn whose art inspired this fic.
> 
> you can find the playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oXzuj1AHvTcJmwI0mbiZA?si=R2QAG7qBSAqOQ5NDy_S0Kg)

**August 1980**

Kayleigh Day stepped off the plane with a smile on her face and a goal in her head. The chance to study in America for a year was exhilarating. God, she hoped her host family would like her. But that was a problem for later, because first she had to _find_ them. Or was she supposed to get her luggage first? No, she had to go through customs before any of that and _oh god the customs agent was glaring at her she wasn’t a felon sir just a student oh god she smiled at him this was it this was-_

“All clear.”

Kayleigh took her passport from the customs agent with a polite nod and practically ran to the baggage claim. Her host family couldn’t possibly be any worse than the customs agent, she reasoned with herself. 

After collecting her suitcases, Kayleigh set out to find her host family. She scanned the area around her until she saw a sign with her name on it. Holding it was a kind looking woman with a son who seemed anything but pleased to be there. 

“Are you Leah Wymack?” Kayleigh asked. 

“You must be Kayleigh!”

Leah held out her arms and Kayleigh stepped into them almost immediately. She had easily 13 centimeters on Leah, but the warmth of her embrace had a way of making Kayleigh feel like a little child.

“Oh, and this is my son, David. Say hello, David.”

David held up his hand as a passing gesture, as if going for a high five, but the stoic look on his face told Kayleigh that he most certainly was not. She went for one anyway.

“Great to meet you, David!”

“Your accent is cool.”

Kayleigh grinned. Oh, this was going to be an interesting school year.

Kayleigh decided she liked Leah more than most people on her first full day in America. She didn’t treat Kayleigh like a guest, but like her own daughter, and for that Kayleigh was grateful. Leah reminded her of her own mother.

David reminded her of her brother, at least before he left for university and never came home. The biggest difference between David and Kalen, though, was David’s general silence. He didn’t talk much, he didn’t slam doors or stomp his feet, and he listened to music too quietly for her to hear. It was unsettling. She told him so.

“You’re too quiet,” Kayleigh said flippantly, sitting beside David on the front porch. David, unsurprisingly, said nothing.

“Why are you so quiet all the time? You’re always in your room. It’s been three days and I’ve seen you twice since the airport. Are you avoiding me? I’m sorry if I’m intruding in your house, but I’ll be here until July, so you might as well try to get used to me. I’m not so bad, you know.”

“Kayleigh?” David said.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Please, shut up.” 

“Okay.”

Not a minute later, Kayleigh began tapping her fingers on her knee, humming to herself as they sat. She bobbed her head from side to side in time with the beat she had been tapping; her tune sounded vaguely like something David would have listened to in middle school. It was endearing.

“Kayleigh, please, can you just--”

“Right! Right, you said shut up. That’s my bad, really. I’m just terrible at sitting still when it’s quiet like this, I didn’t mean to disturb you with my fidgeting. You just looked so lonely out here by yourself and I don’t like when people look lonely so I figured I would come sit with you and--”

Kayleigh’s face flushed bright pink. Oh god, she’d done it again. _Shit shit shit shit shit he probably thought she was annoying now. What if he didn’t want to be friends now? What if she didn’t have any friends in school either? It started three days from now and she really didn’t want to be alone because what if someone made fun of her and she didn’t have anyone there to make sure she didn’t start a fight and--_

“Kayleigh, I can hear you thinking.”

American public school was something Kayleigh had never imagined could be anything like the dramas on the television. Much to her surprise, it was _exactly_ like the dramas on the television. All the teachers had her stand and introduce herself (which they all regretted as soon as they asked her to say something about herself). Lunch was only thirty minutes for some reason? And everyone was always in such a hurry to get places. It was like they didn’t have time to stop and experience life around them. 

David didn't acknowledge her until the final bell rang to excuse them to go home. He wouldn't have if she didn't approach him in the hall. He would've left her here to fend for herself otherwise. 

"Hiya, David!" Kayleigh greeted, ever the enthusiast. 

"Hi, Kayleigh," David replied gruffly. 

"So what do Americans do for fun? Is there a place you all go to party? Do you really drink in the car parks like the dramas on the telly?"

David found himself zoning out as Kayleigh rambled on and on. He couldn't help but notice how her eyes lit up when she got going on a topic she really cared about, and for a moment he thought he could fall in love with her one day. He shook the thought out of his mind and instead focused his attention on remembering where he had parked his truck.

David decided he liked the sight of Kayleigh riding shotgun with the windows rolled down. She laughed like it was the easiest thing in the world, like she hadn't been kicked in the stomach every day just for being alive. She was beautiful. _No,_ he told himself, _she was carefree._

"I like your mom," Kayleigh said, an offhand comment that normally wouldn't have caught David's ear but this time it did. 

"Leah's not my mom," David replied, not unkindly. He didn’t elaborate.

Kayleigh paused for a moment, glancing over at David. His eyes were steady on the road. He always drove like that, she had noticed over the last week. Focused, unbothered. It was almost endearing.

“D’you play any sports?” she asked after a beat.

“Used to play lacrosse,” he replied, reaching for the radio.

“Why’d you stop?”

“Lost interest.”

“Can you show me sometime?”

Now it was David who paused. He didn’t spend time with Kayleigh outside of school, not since the porch two weeks ago. It could be nice, he supposed, getting to know her better, and he could see her smile.

“You want me to teach you how to play lacrosse?” David finally asked. Kayleigh’s nod was eager. He couldn’t find it in himself to tell her no.

David’s brilliant plan went as follows:

  1. Break into the school gym
  2. Find the lacrosse equipment
  3. Act like idiots
  4. Profit 



Kayleigh seemed to think it was foolproof, a fact that brought a smug grin to David’s face. He was finally being recognized for his genius, albeit by a strangely energetic foreign exchange student with very few boundaries. 

It was all too easy to get out of the house. Leah was overjoyed that David was finally taking Kayleigh out to do something, warning him only to not get them arrested. 

Kayleigh’s laughter from the passenger seat was contagious. She laughed at nearly everything, a fact that used to annoy David but was now one of his favorite things about her. 

“I’m not going to let you win, you know,” David said with a grin. Kayleigh threw her head back in a hearty guffaw that made something warm lance through David’s chest.

“I’d hope not!” she said, rolling her head from side to side. The loud cracks coming from her neck sounded downright painful. 

“Get ready to eat my dust, Day.”

“You wish, Wymack!”

It was more difficult to break into the school than originally anticipated. Not impossible, but difficult. Kayleigh was not above hopping the fence, almost like she’d been practicing. It was infuriatingly attractive. 

David was transfixed by the sight of Kayleigh tossing the lacrosse stick from hand to hand, feeling its weight like she’d been playing all her life. God, she was gorgeous. How he’d failed to notice was astounding, as now that he _could_ see, he never wanted to stop looking. He didn't register that she was even speaking to him until he felt her flick his forehead. 

"Hey, where'd you go?" she asked. 

Ever the linguist, David eloquently replied, "Huh?"

Kayleigh didn't laugh at him like he thought she would. She had a look on her face, David was unsure of what. Not quite concern, not quite wonder. She’d never looked at him like that before. He thought perhaps he liked it, the pensive stare that spoke louder than she ever could.

“You went somewhere,” Kayleigh said after a beat.

“I’m right here, Kay.”

“No, your mind. You went wandering.”

David considered this for a moment, until Kayleigh broke into a wide grin. It seemed forced, a façade of the happy girl that stood in her shoes. He didn’t like it, not one bit. _You don’t have to pretend to be happy,_ he thought.

“You smile a lot,” he said. 

Kayleigh rolled her eyes. “You’re stalling. Come on, are you going to show me or not?”

Pink in the face and covered in a sheen of sweat, Kayleigh let her stick fall to the ground, dropping to her knees beside it in the grass. She breathed deeply and placed her hands down in front of her. The grass was cool to the touch, fresh with dew. David got down on one knee beside her.

“Ready to give up yet?” he teased.

“You wish!” Kayleigh retorted, a challenging gleam in her eyes. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

David chuckled and moved to stand, at least until a firm grasp on his wrist and a strong tug found him falling to the dirt. Kayleigh’s wheezing laughter was a welcome sound in the empty silence of the night, to which David found himself laughing along with her. He clutched at his sides as they pinched, something Kayleigh herself had also reached to do. 

Just as David recovered his breath, one glance over at Kayleigh’s flushed cheeks and effortless smile stole it right back from his lungs. Kayleigh turned to face him and met his eyes as if by accident. Her smile never faltered, but there was something in her face that left David’s heart beating out of his chest. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kayleigh asked softly.

“Like what?”

Kayleigh threw up her arms in a gesture of confusion. “Just,” she started, “like _that_.”

David blinked at her. Once, twice, a third time. Slowly. Halting. Unsure. His brain was throwing thousands and thousands of words at him and he didn’t understand any of them. It was too much, too fast, too sudden. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the words wouldn’t come, so he closed it and settled on an action instead.

Kayleigh’s lips were chapped and soft, if fleeting. She didn’t react until David pulled away and stood, making as if to walk away from her. He scooped up their abandoned sticks and the ball as he left. Kayleigh scrambled to her feet.

“David,” she said, but David didn’t react. _“David.”_

“I’m sorry.”

His tone was short and clipped, and he didn’t turn around to say it either. He just kept walking.

David was back to ignoring Kayleigh. She kept trying to talk to him, but just like before, he merely iced her out. It stung. It stung _a lot_ . Driving home from school was cold, empty, a shell of what had been there before. Kayleigh wished she had an emotional sweater. Well, with the way David was pointedly _not_ looking at her, she supposed she would need two.

After three days of chilly silence, Kayleigh’d had enough. It was about nine pm on Friday night, and David was just leaving to go to a party. Kayleigh cornered him by the front door. “David,” she said.

David tried to shove past her to exit, but Kayleigh put her arm out to block the door. “Kay, move,” he warned darkly.

“Not until you talk to me,” she countered. 

David’s eyes flared and he put his hands on her shoulders, shoving her to the side carelessly. Kayleigh’s back hit the door frame as she gaped at him in shock. He stared at her like he couldn’t quite believe what he had done, eyes wild, jaw set, lips pulled into a firm line.

“I told you to fucking move,” he finally said, shouldering his way out the door.

Kayleigh watched him go, sadness and anger heavy in her heart, before deciding to run after him, bare feet be damned. “David!” she called as she ran. David slowed, but his steps never faltered. Kayleigh grabbed his arm to pull him to face her. 

David turned to her with pain in his face. “Let me go, Kay,” he said quietly. The slump of his shoulders was defeated at best, hurt at worst.

“Just _talk_ to me, David,” Kayleigh pleaded.

“About what, Kayleigh? What is there to fucking talk about?”

“This!” Kayleigh cried out. “You’re avoiding me. You’ve _been_ avoiding me. Just tell me why!”

“This is fucking why!”

Lighting lit up the sky as David placed his hands on Kayleigh’s cheeks and pressed a heated kiss to her mouth. Kayleigh melted into his touch as if she’d done it thousands of times before. There was no anger in their lips like there had been in their words. Rain began to fall overhead but neither had it in them to care. It was cold, cold, cold, but they were burning, burning, _burning_. God, they were two lit matches in a world of gasoline.

David pulled back with a sharp inhale, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. Kayleigh leaned her forehead against his, reaching to hold his wrists like a lifeline. They stood in the pouring rain like two idiots in a Nicholas Sparks film, breathing each other in; like addicts, like fools, like lovers, fighters, friends, _people._

David pulled Kayleigh into the backseat of his car and the alarms in his brain didn’t dare speak a word as they took each other apart, piece by broken piece, until there was no telling which piece belonged to which puzzle.

* * *

**March 1982**

David missed Kayleigh like a lung. He hadn’t seen her since she returned to Ireland after her stay. It had been a tear-filled day for the Wymack household, and Leah was distressingly hollow for days after Kayleigh’s departure. But he and Kayleigh wrote as often as they could, which helped to ease the ache in his chest when he woke up to a silent house and empty bed.

Kayleigh’s letters had a special box in David’s desk. It was plain, wooden, with bare etchings on the sides. It was nothing to look at, but then again, neither was the rest of David’s room. Kayleigh’s letters, though? They were everything. They were bright, loud, everything that Kayleigh herself was, except this time David’s difficulty in understanding her came not from her thick accent and quick words, but her practically illegible chicken scratch she had the audacity to call handwriting. 

The pencil was smudged across the pages the same way on every single letter; left to right, fainter as it went. David knew it was like that because Kayleigh was left-handed. He also knew she broke her pencil in the middle of the third paragraph, because the style of the letters was neater and more precise, likely because she sharpened it. David was almost embarrassed at how much he knew about Kayleigh from her handwriting alone. Almost. 

“David!” Leah called from the kitchen, drawing David from his mindless wandering. He sighed and closed the box of Kayleigh’s letters, following the sound of Leah’s voice. 

“Yeah, Leah?”

On the kitchen table were two letters addressed to him. One, a thick envelope with an official-looking seal; the other, a smaller white envelope with a familiar looping handwriting. Both held equal importance in David’s mind, but college could wait. That is, until Leah pushed the larger envelope towards him. 

“It’s from--”

“I know, Leah,” David snapped, then immediately frowned. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

Leah smiled, and David felt sick. What did he do to deserve this woman? She was too good to him, too good _for_ him. She may not have birthed him, but Leah was more of a mother than his own had ever been.

David opened the letter with a deep breath, which he expelled immediately as he read the first line. “Well?” Leah asked, but the grin on David’s face said enough. She stood quickly to pull David into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you, honey!” she crooned.

“Thanks, mom,” David said without thinking. Leah froze, and so did he, but neither thought his words to be unfounded or out of place. 

"Go on, open that letter from Kayleigh," Leah said with a fond smile. "You've been staring at it. Go on, shoo."

_Dearest David,_

_I miss you. I always miss you, but I miss you more today than I did yesterday. I picked this clover for you._

_I have good news. I got in! I'm coming to America for university! I can't wait to see you again. Your jacket smells like my laundry soap now._

_Kalen came home yesterday. Nearly gave mam a heart attack he did. She thought he'd died. But he's back to slamming doors and stamping his feet like he never left. It was too quiet without him._

_Lindy's been wandering out of her pastures lately and she hasn't been home in almost a week. Mam says she's been eaten. Poor lass was so young, too. Not even a bleater._

_I saw a dog that reminded me of Dewey. He was a stray, too. Imagine that! Another mutt like we found. He's a sweetheart too. I might try to convince mam to keep him._

_I hope you're well. How is Leah? And give Mr. Curtis a wave for me, won't you?_

_Much love,_

_Kayleigh._

* * *

**July 1982**

Kayleigh's flight was set to land at noon. David got to the airport at 10:30. He was nervous, to say the least. It had been too long since he'd seen Kayleigh, heard her voice, held her in his arms. She was so unapologetically herself, and David loved every second of it. 

After spending far too long pacing in the parking lot, David moved his pacing inside the airport. He raked his hands through his hair every so often, eyes darting from the clock on the wall to his feet and back again. 

The wait lasted ages, but finally David saw people begin to trickle into the main lobby. A mop of fiery red curls stood out above the rest. It was all he could do not to start running, but it seemed that Kayleigh was beyond restraint. 

Kayleigh pushed through the mob of people around her as soon as she caught sight of David. To hell with being polite, she needed to hold him _now_. As soon as the path was clear, Kayleigh sprinted in his direction. She threw her bag on the ground and jumped at David, and though he was ready, the force of her excitement knocked them to the ground. She didn't care; she had him again. 

"David," she said quietly. 

"Kayleigh," David said in reply. 

There was a moment where time stood still, and they stared into each other's eyes like they'd never done so before, until Kayleigh broke the stillness by pressing a bruising kiss to David's mouth. God, David missed this woman. He'd missed her more than he'd known, but it didn't matter now, because Kayleigh was here and she loved him. She loved him, she loved him, _she loved him_. 

“Let’s go home, yeah?” he said into her mouth. Kayleigh hummed in reply, then stood and offered David a hand. He thought back to that night when she had instead pulled him to the dirt, and a small smile crossed his face. God, he loved this woman.

Leah was thrilled to see Kayleigh, and if the look on Kayleigh’s face was any indicator, the feeling was mutual. The pair hugged for ages, until finally Kayleigh released Leah from her tight embrace. Leah’d missed Kayleigh more than she could admit. Kayleigh, on the other hand, was very vocal about how much she’d missed Leah.

“I told my mom all about you,” she gushed, causing a light blush to cross Leah’s face. “She told me to give you this.”

The item in question was a bag of rocks. David didn’t understand their significance, but the tears pricking at Leah’s eyes led him to believe they were important. According to Kayleigh, it was rock salt. How it differed from regular table salt was a mystery to him.

“I also brought something from me,” Kayleigh continued. She handed Leah what appeared to be a sweater? David had no idea where a sweater like that would come from (besides Ireland, of course), but Kayleigh proudly announced that she had knitted it herself. Leah loved it.

After a few more hugs and many more tears, Leah insisted that Kayleigh rest after the flight. Kayleigh shook her head and instead offered to help with the dinner.

“Nonsense!” Leah exclaimed. “Go on, you two. I’m sure you have some catching up to do.”

Kayleigh opened her mouth to argue, but David grabbed her arm and tugged her into his room before she could speak. As soon as the door shut, he pulled her into another tight hug, crushing her tightly against his chest. They stood there for what felt like ages, Kayleigh tucked into him like she’d done so many times before, David holding her like a lifeline, lips pressed to hair and foreheads to shoulders. 

“You’re not leaving me ever again,” David mumbled. Kayleigh nodded.

“I brought you something, too,” she said after a beat, pulling away just enough to look up at him. 

“Kay, you didn’t have to.”

“Shut up and sit down,” she replied with a grin, stepping out of his arms entirely to pull something from her suitcase. David furrowed his brow in mild confusion, because Kayleigh had a loaf-shaped object wrapped in brown paper. 

“Is that a loaf of bread?”

“I tried baking sourdough,” Kayleigh explained. “I wasn’t sure what to get you and Kalen suggested bread and I couldn’t just make the same old bread, you know? So I borrowed my neighbor’s sourdough recipe last night and baked you a loaf of bread, and then I couldn’t figure out how to bring it here so I just wrapped it in butcher paper and put it in my suitcase. And I found this really pretty rock that I thought you would like--here, it’s in my pocket--so I brought you a rock and some bread, and I also tried to make you a kite but it didn’t go so well but I brought the broken pieces with me as proof of effort. And then I tried to make you a wind chime, but I didn’t know if you would like it and I couldn’t find enough pretty metal bits to string together and then I didn’t know what to do with everything I’d already used so I put them in a bag and brought them too.”

David took the bread from Kayleigh’s hands, set it on his desk, and pulled her in for a kiss. Kayleigh made a soft, surprised noise in the back of her throat, but melted into him nonetheless. She moved fluidly in David’s arms, a goddess among men, and David had every intention of worshipping her. If her sighs meant anything, David figured he was doing something right.

Kayleigh rested her head against David’s chest from where they had lain on his bed. His hand stroked through her hair gently as she caught her breath, something she’d forgotten the feeling of after she left. They talked, quietly, about everything and nothing and whatever else in between. Time stood still as they breathed each other in; lovers, in a world of grey, soft and bright in each other’s arms. But tranquility could only last so long, couldn’t it?

A knock on David’s door startled the pair. Kayleigh pulled the sheets up over her chest just as Leah entered the room, unabashed at the circumstances. “Dinner’s ready,” she said without flinching. 

_“Mom!”_ David said, covering his face with his hands. God, he was mortified. 

“Yes, honey?”

David threw a pillow at a laughing Leah as she shut the door, leaving him and Kayleigh with some semblance of privacy. David exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. Beside him, Kayleigh’s million dollar grin was nothing short of dazzling.


	2. Chapter 2

**September 1982**

Kayleigh’s head dangled off the side of her bed as she spoke to her roommate. The world flipped upside down wasn’t a new perspective for her, given how much time she spent talking to Saphie, but the topic shifted differently each and every time.

“I just don’t get it!” Saphie groaned, dropping her head forward onto her desk. “Whose idea was it to invent calculus anyway?”

“I don’t know, actually.” Kayleigh paused for a moment to think. “It’s terrible, so probably a man.”

Saphie laughed and rolled her eyes, looking back over at Kayleigh. Her best friend was absolutely ridiculous. It was her intense charisma that had allowed them to bond so quickly, Kayleigh’s boldness quickly drawing Saphie from her shell. It helped that their classes were relatively similar, too. The pair stuck together as often as possible, an indomitable force against the evils of, well, American college.

“Speaking of men,” Saphie began, “who’s the guy in our English class you keep smiling at?”

Kayleigh threw a pillow at her, missing spectacularly and instead hitting the wall. “Shut up, it’s not like that. You know I’m seeing David.” Saphie wrinkled her nose. “Besides, I could never be attracted to a man like Tetsuji. He’s nice to study with, that’s all.”

Saphie was very clear about her opinion of David from the get-go; she thought Kayleigh was far out of his league, and he was only holding her back. But she was civil, and Kayleigh respected her for it. 

“Well _I_ think he’s attractive,” Saphie said flippantly. Kayleigh sat up and moved to lay on her stomach, resting her chin on her palms as she faced her roommate.

“Saphie, my dear, you have no taste.”

Tetsuji Moriyama was a man of few words. He did not speak unless spoken to, and his sentences were always short, clipped, like his only goal was to say as little as possible. But he listened, intently, purposely, as though every word from Kayleigh’s mouth was more important than the last. They made for an interesting duo, but they worked. Sometimes, on good days, Kayleigh could coax a real smile out of him; one that touched his eyes and crinkled his cheeks, nothing like the tight-lipped and impersonal almost-grimace he treated the rest of the student body with. It was for this reason that David didn’t trust him.

David had full confidence in Kayleigh; after all, she’d left home to see him again. But there was something in the way Tetsuji looked at her. He couldn’t quite place what, but it was unsettling. Naturally, the best course of action was to join their study group. He felt out-of-place during the first meeting. Kayleigh and Tetsuji’s dynamic was a strong connection just between the two that scarcely left David enough room to breathe, but after meeting Tetsuji for the first time, he felt more at ease with him. 

Tetsuji clearly didn’t like him; it was obvious in the way he scarcely gave David any of his attention but to scowl. Kayleigh, however, was her usual beam of sunshine, and her charms extended to Tetsuji, because by the end of their session he had warmed to David substantially. 

The trio quickly grew inseparable, until they were hardly ever seen without each other. They were no longer David, Kayleigh, and Tetsuji, but rather, David-Kayleigh-and-Tetsuji. They were certainly a sight to behold: the grumpy, unbothered, athletic dickwad; his peppy, impossibly bright, overly enthusiastic girlfriend; and their stoic, unfeeling, well-dressed companion. 

David still didn’t trust Tetsuji, but he considered him one of his closest friends. He couldn’t place what seemed off about him, but as long as there was no clear threat to Kayleigh he didn’t mind. Tetsuji was nice enough anyway.

Tetsuji was by no means an athletic man; he felt out of breath simply watching David and Kayleigh play a very rudimentary game of lacrosse. He was, however, raised with an eye for potential business endeavors, and the choppy movements of his only two acquaintances screamed inspiration. He made a mental note to look into the specifics of lacrosse in his spare time, just to see where it would take him. Perhaps Kayleigh might be interested in working through it together, he mused.

* * *

**May 1983**

“You’ll have to come over and see the new place soon, yeah?”

Saphie nodded and pulled Kayleigh into a tight hug. She’d never admit it, but Kayleigh was the only person she’d ever felt close to in her life. She had no idea what she was going to do now that her best friend was moving into a new apartment just off campus.

Kayleigh, on the other hand, was thrilled. This was a huge step in her and David’s relationship, getting an apartment together, and she was ecstatic that Tetsuji would be right there with them. They’d been so important to her for as long as she’d known them, and to have them both with her was an amazing feeling.

The apartment was quaint, with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a dinky kitchen, and enough open space to call a living room. It needed sprucing up, yes, but it was cheap and the location was perfect. It was a place with potential.

Potential for what, the three would soon find out.

* * *

**September 1984**

David glanced at the clock and frowned. It was after nine; Kayleigh should have come in for bed by then, but she was across the hall in Tetsuji’s room working on a “secret project” that had been in motion for months now.

 _Secret project my ass,_ David thought to himself, then quickly shook it from his mind. No, he trusted Kayleigh, and he trusted Tetsuji. What he didn’t trust was their excitability when it came to projects, simply because they threw themselves into the work entirely without any breathing room. It wasn’t healthy, especially when they served as each other’s enablers.

Around ten o’clock, Kayleigh slid into bed with David, wrapping her arms around his torso as she’d done so many nights before. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I think we figured it out,” she replied sleepily. “Just need to put it to the field. Might need--” she yawned at this-- “some help from the lacrosse team.”

“Is my expertise not enough for you?” David teased.

“No,” Kayleigh said matter-of-factly. “We need professionals. Guys who’ve been playing for years, and didn’t quit. Not that you haven’t helped,” she added quickly.

David hummed once under his breath and settled back into the pillows, not without leaving a kiss on Kayleigh’s forehead first. “We’ll talk in the morning, Kay. Get some sleep.”

“I love you, David.”

“I love you.”

As it happened, David was able to admit that a majority of the lacrosse team was, in fact, pivotal to Kayleigh and Tetsuji’s idea--well, not so much an idea as a whole sport, but semantics were never David’s specialty anyhow. They called it exy. It was quite similar to lacrosse in the general rules of play, but the playing field was about the size of a soccer field. Unfortunately, there was no indoor soccer field to be seen, so they had to make do with the basketball court. The goals were set points on the walls, rather than in nets or baskets, and it was the most violent thing David had ever seen. He decided almost immediately that he loved it, and, much to Kayleigh’s delight, joined in after the first scrimmage.

Kayleigh was magnificent when she played. Her position was that of a backliner, which made sense given her indomitable will, and she had somehow convinced him to take up the position of striker. He at one point thought he may have heard a _“Nice ass, Wymack!”_ from her, but it wasn’t likely. It confused him that Tetsuji expressed no desire to participate, merely watching from the sidelines and taking notes, but it all faded away when the ball was in play.

Exy grew popular across campus almost immediately, spreading like wildfire everywhere it touched. Needless to say, Kayleigh and Tetsuji were thrilled about it; Kayleigh expressed her joy freely, where Tetsuji remained quiet and reserved. Nothing about him made sense to David. It made sense that he would at the very least say something about his pride in starting something so impressive, but he spoke not a word of it to anyone save for Kayleigh.

* * *

**November 1985**

David’s old doubts came back to him with a vengeance after the first campus tournament. They came to him suddenly and without warning, as does illness, but rather of the mind than of the body. It angered him that they returned so violently; he couldn’t handle the thought of lashing out and hurting either Kayleigh or Tetsuji as a result. But how could he help it when he heard Kayleigh’s laughter coming from Tetsuji’s room constantly? The hot pangs of jealousy he felt were threatening to consume him. 

The campus tournament was a huge success, and though David was jealous, nothing could smother his pride. Seeing the people he cared for most succeed was a joy he could never replace. God, and if it kept Kayleigh smiling like that, he’d fight back his suspicions for however long it took.

* * *

**January 1985**

Christmas came and went without fanfare. In typical Kayleigh fashion, she fashioned some sort of windchime (successfully this time) out of bits of metal and broken glass to give to Tetsuji, and for David she managed to finish the kite she had attempted years ago. She was proud of herself for managing it, as it had taken much more time than she cared to admit, and both gifts were happily received. 

On her bureau sat a glass figurine of two foxes huddled together (from David), and beside it, a much larger glass figurine of a raven (from Tetsuji). They were both lovely, and Kayleigh would treasure them forever. Tetsuji had been on an Edgar Allen Poe kick as of late, so on his own bureau rested a copy of _The Raven_ , courtesy of David, who greatly appreciated the beautiful raven tie clip.

Now that the new year had begun, Kayleigh and Tetsuji were able to throw themselves even further into exy, and it left David feeling just a little abandoned. It wasn’t that he didn’t support them, but it was getting increasingly more difficult to go to bed alone while Kayleigh and Tetsuji were doing God knows what in the room across the hall. Well, he knew what, but he didn’t understand why it had to take so long. After all, it was only a sport. What were sports for, besides to play?

* * *

**April 1985**

“We can go to Japan, to my family,” Tetsuji said offhandedly. Kayleigh sat up from her place on the floor. 

“Japan? But it’s so far!”

Tetsuji hummed in assent. True, it was far, but they could build an empire. Distance was a small price to pay for a much larger reward. An investment, even.

“Yes, it is,” he said, as an afterthought. “But think what this could mean, for us and for exy.”

“Exy is a _sport_ . This is our _home_ , not Japan.”

“You do not need to be upset with me, Kayleigh. It was merely a suggestion.”

“I’m not upset.”

Kayleigh raked her hands through her hair. Rather comically, three pencils fell out from behind her ears and into her lap. There was a brief moment of tense silence before she burst into peals of laughter, accompanied by Tetsuji’s reserved smile. 

“You are ridiculous,” he remarked, not unkindly. 

“I know,” she replied with a grin. “Now about the court dimensions.”

Because the first tournament was so popular, Kayleigh and Tetsuji set up another relatively soon thereafter. Just as before, it was a major success, and it encouraged them to hold one every other week. Surprisingly, students from other universities had heard about exy, and would often be seen on the sidelines during the tournaments. It was this that led Kayleigh to an idea: a multi-school tournament. 

Tetsuji, naturally, was thrilled at the opportunity to spread exy and help it gain notoriety in the community. Perhaps he would finally be able to outshine his talentless brother, whose own respectability came not from worthiness but birthright, though who was the second son to argue with hundreds of years of tradition?

Whether he liked it or not, he needed Kayleigh to help him assert his place. What he would do with her then, well. He had access to the family assets, did he not? People were so easily disposed of with the proper connections.

Since Kayleigh had lunch plans with Saphie, David and Tetsuji decided to study together in the library rather than their living room. It was slow for a Saturday, not that they minded. It felt to David that he hadn’t been able to catch up with his best friend in forever.

“How are things with exy going?” he asked, almost aggressively. “You and Kayleigh have been working a lot lately.”

“Oh, yes,” Tetsuji replied. “There is much to be done if we are ever to propose it to my family in Japan.”

David must have made a face, because suddenly Tetsuji’s tone shifted. “She did not mention this to you?”

“No. Ah, no. Not. Not yet, no.”

“Ah.”

A tense silence filled the air, choking David from the inside out. Not two minutes later, the suffocating heat boiling his insides became too much to bear, and he quickly packed his things and rushed out of the library.

The hot, roiling anger was hardly a new feeling; he’d been struggling with it for years. But for once, he couldn’t pinpoint what was making him this upset. As he made his way in the general direction of the apartment, he decided to weigh his options:

  1. Go home, take a nap, and forget about it.
  2. Go for a run to think things through and calm down.
  3. Confront Kayleigh directly (though he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t hurt her, and as such he decided to wait before attempting that).
  4. Break something.



Given that he wasn’t thinking clearly, breaking things seemed like the most appealing option. With that intent in mind, he stormed into the apartment, slamming open the doors and kicking walls as he went. When he got to his and Kayleigh’s room, the first thing he set eyes on was none other than the beautiful raven figurine on their bureau. All sense of reason flew from his mind as he grasped the raven (affectionately nicknamed Poe, by Kayleigh of course) in his shaking fist and hurled it at the wall with conviction.

The sound of shattering glass was deafening, but not even the ringing in his ears could be drowned out by the sound of a soft and surprised, “Oh!”

David whipped his head around to see Kayleigh standing in the doorway in total shock. He hardly registered that she was moving towards him until he felt her hands--gentle, always so gentle--touch his shoulders. Maybe she began to speak, but he didn’t hear; nothing else was audible over the rush of blood in his ear as he reached over his chest and backhanded Kayleigh across the face. He watched as her head was thrown to the side, as she flinched away from the blow, as she moved so forcefully that she began to stumble and crumple to the floor like a ragdoll.

Kayleigh’s eyes were filled with what could only be described as fear. Absolute terror at what David had done. The pain he caused her, that _he_ caused her. He who _loved her more than he could comprehend_ . He who would have moved mountains, oceans, moons, stars, planets, _galaxies_ if it was what would make her happy, yet here she lay before him, tears in her eyes, because he couldn’t keep his temper in check.

“Kayleigh,” he tried to say, but he couldn’t breathe. It came out like a choked prayer on the lips of a dying man; it felt like a conclusion.

“Go,” Kayleigh said, but nothing came out. Nothing could ever voice the betrayal burning through her like gasoline.

David’s side of the bed wasn’t cold, but he hadn’t slept there in four days. Kayleigh’s side, however, was untouched. She missed him no matter how little she wanted to see him. The closest she could get was the smell on his pillow, even if it was suffocating her.

The couch was hardly comfortable, but David knew he deserved it. Hell, he didn’t deserve to even stay in the apartment anymore. After he’d hurt Kayleigh, he locked himself in the bathroom and promptly threw up in the toilet. He was disgusted with himself, with the person he was becoming. He needed help.

The resource center in the library had a flyer posted for an anger management group. It had stared at him every day he sat down to study, mocking him, calling him weak, laughing in his face about his crippling inability to control himself. He now knew that it was right.

As David was about to leave for class, a familiar set of footsteps approached him. He couldn’t bear to look at her, not when the mark he left on her face was just now beginning to fade. But he did.

“David,” she said, and his heart crumbled to dust.

“Kayleigh,” he said, and suddenly whatever walls he had left fell in a clatter of stones, releasing their energy in the form of a choked sob. 

“You need--,” she began, then cut herself short. _“I_ need you to get help.”

David didn’t come home that night, at least not until Kayleigh was asleep, and he was gone in the morning when she woke up. The couch was remade, and on the coffee table sat a harmless piece of paper, the words ANGER MANAGEMENT THERAPY emblazoned across the top. 

* * *

**May 1985**

Things were tense between David and Kayleigh. Though he was seeking help, she still flinched when he raised his hand too quickly or spoke too loudly. It broke David’s heart that he was the cause of this. He wanted so desperately to hold her again, but he would wait as long as she needed to.

Somehow more strained, however, was the relationship between David and Tetsuji. Though nothing within their dynamic shifted, therein lied the problem: Tetsuji acted as if nothing had happened. For a man who was so close with Kayleigh, he was very blasé about the whole affair. It bothered David to no end; he brought this up in his anger management group.

One of the group’s members suggested that he was perhaps expecting his internal scorn to be reflected back upon him by those closest to him. He supposed he agreed. He was, after all, a disgusting human being. _No,_ he chastised himself, _just working towards recovery._ The voices of his groupmates reminding him that he was not limited to his actions swam through his head.

As he was about to make his bed on the couch once again, Kayleigh stepped into his line of sight. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight,” she said, heartbreakingly quiet, “if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah,” David said. “Yeah, okay.”

God, he didn’t deserve her, but he was so glad that he had her. He’d forgotten how it felt to have her in his arms. If the kiss she pressed to the top of his shoulder was any indicator, she certainly missed him too.

It was raining when Kayleigh woke up. She’d left the window open again, yet she had little inclination to get up and close it. She was perfectly content to lay in bed forever. She looked over at David, still sound asleep, and a reserved smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She knew she loved him, but sometimes she wasn’t sure of the extent until she looked at him. 

She reached over to rest her hand on his cheek, uncertain, but he leaned into her touch immediately. Nothing was broken after all, she mused. Figurines were replaceable, but love was not. Things would be okay. They had to be.

Things were not okay. Things were very not okay. What had she done to fuck it all up? God, it was never going to be okay ever again. She was so fucked. Everything was ruined now. Fuck, it was over. The burnt piece of toast was going to be her undoing.

“Is something burning?” David yelled from the other room. 

“No, everything’s fine!” Kayleigh said quickly, waving her hands over the smoking toaster to dissipate the smell as much as possible. Unfortunately, she didn’t clear it quickly enough, because the smoke detector began to beep. David’s laughter was hysterical as he walked into the kitchen, immediately greeted by the sight of Kayleigh beating a dish towel beneath the smoke detector to make it stop.

“This isn’t funny!” Kayleigh said with a laugh. Just as soon as it started, the smoke detector ceased its beeping.

“Oh, it’s not?” David teased. “Then why are you laughing?”

“Here’s why!”

Kayleigh twisted up the dish towel and snapped it against the side of David’s thigh. David raised an eyebrow at her before reaching out and placing his hands on her waist, pulling her towards him with a cheeky grin. 

“Who’s laughing now, huh?”

Kayleigh huffed and rolled her eyes, but still kept her dazzling smile. David pressed a kiss to her forehead and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You missed,” Kayleigh said suddenly.

“What do you mean, I missed?”

Kayleigh leaned forward and kissed David softly. “I mean, you missed.”

* * *

**June 1985**

After mulling it over for a few weeks, Kayleigh decided that Tetsuji’s proposal was the best thing for them if they wanted to take exy to the great heights they knew it was capable of reaching. The hardest part would be telling David.

It was a Saturday evening when it happened. David pressed a kiss to Kayleigh's forehead as she rested her head against his bare chest. "I love you," he said softly. 

"David, I'm leaving," Kayleigh said suddenly, jolting upright to face him. David blinked at her slowly. 

"You're what?"

"To Japan. Tetsuji and I, we're pitching exy to his family. He says they can help us promote it."

David fell quiet for a moment. "That's amazing, Kay," he said after a beat. “When?”

“Tetsuji has to book the tickets, but we should be leaving in July.”

July. That was less than a month away. But they had to come back, didn’t they? It wouldn’t be forever. It couldn’t be forever. It couldn’t possibly be forever.

Everything was working all too nicely. Tetsuji supposed he should have expected something to go just a bit sideways, but he had hoped it would not come to this. 

“She does not want you there with us, David,” Tetsuji said calmly. “It is better if you remain in America.”

Similarly, when Kayleigh mentioned the possibility of David coming along, Tetsuji knew he had to cut him out entirely. “David does not want to be there with you,” he said. “He is not interested in that level of commitment yet.”

Quite simply put, David was a distraction they could not afford. That _he_ could not afford. He needed to assert his place in the family, and if David was trailing them like a lost puppy, he would surely ruin something. Taking Kayleigh along was inconvenient enough as it was.

Just as he hoped, a fight soon broke out between the couple. Unfortunately it happened to be on court during a scrimmage. Kayleigh must have checked David too harshly into the wall, because he took far too long to stand back up. 

“What the fuck, Kay?” David said, throwing his arms out, stick grasped firmly in his left hand.

“Is there a problem here?” Kayleigh snarked in reply, resting her hands on her hips.

“The _problem_ is you’re not playing fair!”

“Oh, _I’m_ not playing fair? Fuck you!” 

Kayleigh spit at David’s feet and stormed off the court. On the opposite end of the court, Tetsuji’s malicious smile began to fade back into a hard line. Everything was going exactly to plan.

When David dropped Kayleigh and Tetsuji off at the airport, there were no tearful goodbyes. There were no farewell hugs and “see you soons” that David longed to hear. Hell, he and Kayleigh hadn’t spoken a word to each other since their fight on the court a week ago.

As he watched the pair walk away, David supposed he was glad Kayleigh had left. She'd gotten too close, and this way he didn't have to see her face as a reminder of the guilt. Things were getting too serious and he wasn't sure he wanted that. Sure, he loved her, but how long could love last, anyway?


	3. Chapter 3

**August 1985**

Kayleigh was sick. She’d been throwing up daily, and her appetite was steadily increasing. What worried her most, though, was that despite not being able to keep most meals down, she was still gaining weight. It wasn’t until the second skipped period that she knew exactly what was wrong.

She didn’t need to see the second line on the pregnancy test to know. She didn’t have to wrack her brain to figure out when, and with whom. She didn’t have to say a word to Tetsuji for him to know; her tear-swollen eyes spoke for her. 

“You are pregnant,” Tetsuji said, forcing a neutral expression on his face.

“I’m pregnant,” Kayleigh choked, pressing a hand to her stomach.

“I will take care of this. My family’s doctors will get rid of it.”

Horrified, Kayleigh took a step back from Tetsuji, the hand on her stomach a protective barrier between her child and the rest of the world. Having a baby was the worst thing that she could do now, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would lay down her life before giving up motherhood of her own volition. Tetsuji’s face darkened.

“You are making a mistake, Kayleigh. Exy needs you.”

“I can’t lose this baby. I have to go home,” Kayleigh said in reply. “It needs its father.”

It dawned on Tetsuji that this could be something to be used for his own advantage. Exy had become popular immediately with the help of his family; a child would be monumental for news coverage.

“I will help you raise the child, if that is what you wish.”

* * *

**November 1985**

David had been following the news surrounding exy with a sort of religious vigor. It was all he heard of Kayleigh and Tetsuji, considering that they never bothered to write, and he hadn’t realized how lonely it was without them. He’d moved back into the campus dorms, and his roommate was nothing but cold to him. He missed the warmth of Kayleigh’s smile; the polaroid of her in his wallet was too flat to be of much comfort to him now.

He needed an excuse to go to Japan. He needed an excuse to find her again. He needed her. He wanted her. He _needed_ her. _No,_ he reasoned with himself, _she left. She was gone. He didn’t need her and she didn’t need him._

* * *

**January 1986**

“It has been three and a half years since our idea became a reality. Today we share with you the first official school of exy. Here we will train both athletes and coaches alike, in order to bring our sport to greatness.”

Kayleigh flashed her signature smile to the press, wary of the weight of Tetsuji’s hand on her middle back. Though her media personality was dazzling, it was only that: a show. It was no secret to her that she was depressed, but as long as she was the face of exy, no one needed to know.

David’s head was swimming. The news coverage of the unveiling of Kayleigh and Tetsuji’s school was broadcast everywhere on campus, given that exy began there, and as such David was able to see Kayleigh's protruding belly wherever he looked. Bitterness lanced through his chest and it took all his willpower not to punch through the nearest wall. His counselor's voice was a soothing presence in his mind, encouraging him to count back from ten and regain his composure, but the child of exy lingered in his head. 

_"Our child will be born to greatness. Kevin is the first son of exy. There is no greater honor."_

* * *

**February 1986**

Kevin Day was born without fanfare. Shockingly enough the press were radio silent about the whole affair. After all, the events surrounding the Moriyama-Day School of Exy were far more interesting. 

Kayleigh tried her best to take care of him at first, but she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed. His cries often fell on the deaf ears of an uncaring mother, to the point where Kayleigh soon agreed to let Tetsuji hire them a live-in nanny. She was a nice enough woman, and Kevin was a nice enough baby. Kayleigh and Tetsuji painted the picture of a nice enough family to the press, but they were not nearly as perfect as they seemed. Their home was wrought with turmoil. 

It was to be expected, Kayleigh supposed, given that though she spent her nights in one man's bed she longed to be in that of another.

* * *

**May 1986**

Kayleigh'd been out of the game far too long for her liking. Since she had full access to the school's many courts, she decided it was time to get back to training. She wrote a note for the nanny before she left, kissed Kevin's forehead, and went off to practice. 

The courts were almost all booked for the day, with various openings in between, so she found the nearest opening and seized it with vigor. The court was still in use when she arrived, but she was content to wait for it to open up. At least she was, until she caught sight of a familiar face. Judging by the look on his face, David Wymack saw her too. 

Kayleigh didn't know if she wanted to kiss him or kill him. She settled for walking towards him without a second thought. The sound of someone saying, "You can't be in here!" followed by immediate shushing was nothing to the rush of blood in her ears.

"You," Kayleigh began, fire in her eyes, "are unbelievable." 

"Oh, _I'm_ unbelievable?" David threw back. 

Kayleigh threw out her arms as if to push him away, but at the touch of her hands to his shoulders, David found himself being fiercely pulled into her embrace. She was crying, shaking, begging for forgiveness in his unyielding arms, and he could only hold her closer and closer. 

Kayleigh walked away with a phone number folded carefully in her hand. It was all she could do not to kidnap David and take him home with her. She would never tell Tetsuji as much. 

She needed to see David again, that much was obvious. She needed to explain to him everything that happened, but more important was Kevin. Kevin needed his father. She couldn't keep pawning him off on Tetsuji and the nanny (whose name she hadn't bothered to remember), and she couldn't raise him on her own. The only option was to take Kevin home. 

Kayleigh called David three days after seeing him. They talked briefly, just enough to set up a meeting. It was an unassuming café in the heart of Tokyo, and the pair fit right in among the clientele. 

"Not that it matters much anymore," Kayleigh began after a lull in conversation, "I love you."

David was taken aback. He'd never expected to hear those words from her again, not that he didn't want to. It was a relief to hear her say it, to know that what he felt for her wasn't one-sided. He didn't know what he would do if she didn't love him anymore. 

"I want to leave Japan. Come with me," she continued. 

David stared at her in disbelief. This couldn't possibly be real, and he pinched himself to wake up. 

"I don't know, Kay. I'll think about it. But your life is here now, and so is my training."

"My life is wherever you are," she countered. "Just, think about it, okay?"

* * *

**June 1986**

As it happened, an unplanned business conference managed to force its way into Kayleigh’s life just as she was beginning to settle back in. Now that she was seeing David again it felt like she could finally breathe, but therein lied the problem: photographs of her and David had leaked to the press. She and Tetsuji had to speak on the rumors and play damage control, lest her “scandal” tarnish the still-fresh reputation of exy.

It probably didn’t help that David came to the train station to say goodbye, but Kayleigh didn’t care. Though she would be gone for less than a week, leaving David was getting harder and harder every time. Goodbye felt so final even with a return date in sight.

After parking the car, Tetsuji came around the side of the station to the front where he had left Kayleigh, frowning imperceptibly as he saw her folded into David’s embrace. To say that he was not happy that David was back would be an understatement. 

“Come along, Kayleigh,” Tetsuji said icily. “We will miss our train.”

Reluctantly, Kayleigh stepped away from David to follow Tetsuji into the station. To David’s dismay, she didn’t turn around.

The series of press conferences went smoothly, given the circumstances, and as such, Kayleigh and Tetsuji were able to return home without protest. Tetsuji had been his usual brand of quiet throughout the whole ordeal, but something about him felt off. Colder, maybe. It was unnerving.

Kevin was safe with the nanny when Kayleigh and Tetsuji entered their apartment. Though Kayleigh still could not say she loved her baby, she was growing accustomed to him, and was glad to find him unharmed. He burbled listlessly in her arms, and she couldn’t help but smile.

She needed to call David, that much was certain, but she didn’t know what she would even say to him. He picked up on the second ring, cutting off her worrying as quickly as it had started. “Hey, David,” she said, tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder.

“Kayleigh? You’re back early,” David replied. Kayleigh heard shuffling in the background followed by the unmistakable click of a Zippo.

“The issue was resolved quicker than anticipated,” she said, ducking around the phone’s cord to sit at the dining table. Kevin cooed gently into the receiver. “When can I see you?” David fell silent for a moment. “Soon?” she continued. “I have something important to tell you.”

“Tomorrow,” David said. “At the cafe. If you’re not busy.”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kayleigh wrote out what she needed to say to David in case she floundered and found herself unable to use her voice. The letter was short and to the point. Unfortunately, Tetsuji found it before she could leave to meet David again. 

_Dearest David,_

_In case my words fail me, I wrote you this letter to tell you something important. I suppose I should have told you sooner. Kevin is your son. Kevin is_ **_our_ ** _son, if you'll still have me._

_Forever yours,_

_Kayleigh Day._

Tetsuji was furious. After all they had built, she was still willing to lose it all for something so trivial as _love._ Love was nothing more than a weakness. It needed to be eradicated at all costs. 

Kayleigh didn't notice that the letter in the passenger side of her car wasn't her letter, but it didn't matter. The eighteen wheeler hit her head on regardless. 

David was growing impatient. It was an hour past their scheduled meeting. The television in the café was no more than white noise, at least until a familiar name caught his attention. 

_"In a terrible accident that has shocked the world of athletics, exy pioneer Kayleigh Day has tragically passed away. Killed on impact in a head-on collision, the co-creator of everyone's current obsession was just twenty-four."_

The water glass in David's hand shattered on the floor. This couldn't be real. He was dreaming. He had to be. 

David pocketed the engagement ring with a heavy cloud in his heart. He had once wondered how long love could last, and now he had his answer.

**Author's Note:**

> kayleigh day is my new favorite character to write and you can't take her from me. you can bother me on my tumblr @cherry-scones-and-exy-thrones


End file.
